Election law attorney Angelo Genova is shown in this 2007 photo. Genova represents The Fund for Jobs and Growth, a Super PAC that is suing the state to avoid contribution limits on groups that make independent expendituresStar Ledger file photo

TRENTON — A Washington DC "super PAC" has sued New Jersey’s campaign finance watchdog agency, saying the state can't limit how much it can raise from an individual donor.

The Fund for Jobs and Growth filed the complaint against the state Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) in federal district court on Friday.

The group, organized under Section 527 of the IRS code, plans to make independent expenditures on behalf of Democratic state legislative candidates in this year’s election. It argues that under the 2010 Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. FEC, it’s unconstitutional to limit how much money it can raise from an individual donor.

In an advisory opinion that the group had requested, ELEC last month told it that state law does not permit donors to give as much as they want to the group, even if that law would likely be found unconstitutional if challenged. State law does not permit individuals to give more than $7,200 to political committees.

“The Citizens United court stated in no uncertain terms that ‘independent expenditures, including those made by corporations, do not give rise to corruption or the appearance of corruption,’” thereby negating the only government interest strong enough to justify New Jersey’s restrictions on Plaintiff’s political speech ," reads the brief on behalf of the Fund for Jobs and Growth, prepared by prominent New Jersey election law attorney Angelo Genova.

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The group plans to register with ELEC and disclose its donors, which it is already required to do under federal law.

Marc Elias, another attorney for the group, said its complaint “speaks for itself.” Joseph Donohue, deputy director for ELEC, declined to comment.

The Fund for Jobs and Growth, which was founded in February, plans to spend money on state legislative races across the nation. But it said it plans to spend more than half its money in New Jersey this year, since it's one of only two states with regular state-level elections.